ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Grok 4.3 vs Kimi K2.7 Code vs Kimi K2.8 Preview

Grok 4.3 comes out ahead, 72 to 66 and 63 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    xAI

    Grok 4.3

    Released Apr 17, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.25 / $2.50
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Grok 4.3

  2. Moonshot AI

    Kimi K2.7 Code

    Released Jun 12, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI150.0
    • Price$0.95 / $4.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Kimi K2.7 Code

  3. Moonshot AI

    Kimi K2.8 Preview

    Released Sep 11, 2026

    66/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Kimi K2.8 Preview
01 — Verdict

Grok 4.3 is our pick

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Kimi K2.8 Preview (66) and Kimi K2.7 Code (63). The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 $1.56 · Kimi K2.7 Code $1.71 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Kimi K2.8 Preview unpriced
  • Longest contextKimi K2.8 PreviewKimi K2.8 Preview 1,048,576 · Grok 4.3 1,000,000 · Kimi K2.7 Code 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsGrok 4.3: Text, Images, PDFs · Kimi K2.7 Code: Text, Images, Video · Kimi K2.8 Preview: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingKimi K2.7 CodePublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGrok 4.3Kimi K2.7 CodeKimi K2.8 Preview
Inputs & features60%808070
Context window40%603761
Overall100%72/10063/10066/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Grok 4.3 vs Kimi K2.7 Code vs Kimi K2.8 Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationGrok 4.3xAIKimi K2.7 CodeMoonshot AIKimi K2.8 PreviewMoonshot AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.2150.0 (best)—
ECI rank#55 of 148#49 of 148 (best)—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions88.8% (best)87.9%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics42.8%54.0% (best)—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics93.3%95.6% (best)—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions33.2%36.5% (best)—
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25$0.95 (best)—
Output$2.50 (best)$4.00—
Cached input$0.20$0.19 (best)—
Blended (3:1)$1.56 (best)$1.71—
Long-context rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $5.00Same rate—
Price sourceOfficial xAI APIOfficial Moonshot AI API—
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens262,144 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output30,000 tokens262,144 tokens (best)—
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesYes
PDFsYesNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoYesYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · highYesYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenProprietary
API model IDgrok-4.3kimi-k2.7-code—
API providers2751 (best)—
ReleasedApr 17, 2026Jun 12, 2026Sep 11, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Jan 2025—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Grok 4.3$17.50
  • Kimi K2.7 Code$17.50
  • Kimi K2.8 Preview—
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Grok 4.3, Kimi K2.7 Code or Kimi K2.8 Preview?

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Kimi K2.8 Preview (66) and Kimi K2.7 Code (63). The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Grok 4.3, Kimi K2.7 Code or Kimi K2.8 Preview?

Grok 4.3 is cheaper at $1.25 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official xAI API price). Kimi K2.7 Code costs $0.95 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Moonshot AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.56 per million tokens for Grok 4.3 versus $1.71 for Kimi K2.7 Code (1.1× as much). Kimi K2.8 Preview has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Grok 4.3 has an ECI of 149.2, Kimi K2.7 Code has an ECI of 150.0 and Kimi K2.8 Preview has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4.3, Kimi K2.7 Code and Kimi K2.8 Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Kimi K2.8 Preview has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Grok 4.3 and 262,144 for Kimi K2.7 Code. Maximum output per response: Grok 4.3 up to 30,000, Kimi K2.7 Code up to 262,144 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Grok 4.3 accepts text, images and PDFs; Kimi K2.7 Code accepts text, images and video; Kimi K2.8 Preview accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Kimi K2.7 Code publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Grok 4.3 and Kimi K2.8 Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Kimi K2.8 Preview is the newest, released Sep 11, 2026. Kimi K2.7 Code came out Jun 12, 2026; Grok 4.3 came out Apr 17, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Kimi K2.7 Code Jan 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

Related comparisons